It's called the Immigration Blueprint Project and the aim is to assess how Northeast Ohio can best sell itself to foreign students and highly educated talent from around the world. Backed by Akron's GAR Foundation, the Blueprint looks to the example set by cities like Philadelphia that have created welcome centers and marketing campaigns to attract newcomers. Mark Santo of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs is heading the local effort.
Mark Santo: I think what Northeast Ohio has to come to grips with is you now have one billion more people in the global workforce. And so, the competition for brains is a global one.
Santo says some recent well-intentioned efforts to spur economic development - like Ohio's Third Frontier project - have ignored the potential of immigrants. His group's Blueprint to change that is due to be rolled out in October. David C. Barnett, 90.3.